Stress is when a physiological response is elicited from external stimuli. The stimuli can be both psychological and physiological, and stress can be long-term or short-term. Despite the way we speak about it, stress is not simply a feeling; it can actually affect a person’s biological and psychological state. When we think of stress, we tend to think of it as being equivalent to worry, but stress is much more than that, and it does not always have to be bad. There are actually two types of stress: distress and eustress, which occur from negative and positive events, respectively.

DISTRESS: Stress that occurs from negative events. For example, the stress that occurs from experiencing the death of a loved one, getting hurt, or losing a job.

EUSTRESS: Stress that occurs from positive events. For example, the stress that occurs when watching a scary movie, going on a roller coaster, or getting a job promotion.

THE FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE :

In the 1920s, American physiologist Walter Cannon described a theory about how animals handle stress based on behavior. He called this theory the fight or flight response, otherwise known as acute stress.

According to Cannon, when an animal is under intense stress (even if the stress is not real), a psychological and physiological reaction is triggered. There will be a sudden release of chemicals including adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol in the body. This will create an increase in heart rate, an increase in breathing, a tightening of the muscles, and a constricting of blood vessels, resulting in the energy necessary to react by either fighting or fleeing. This involuntary response is regulated by three...